The word “blithe” means, “showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper.”  In case you need further definitions, “callous” can essentially be thought of as rude, but in a thoughtless manner.  Roughly speaking, it is difficult to be blithe about being a Christian, at least if you are sincere about it.  The two are antithetical to one another.  Jesus was certainly not indifferent about going to the Cross for our sins, and more broadly, neither is God about any of us.  He loves us beyond any attempt at rationalizing those feelings.  Today’s film is called Blithe Spirit (1945) because the title word we have been exploring is intended to describe Elvira Condomine (Kay Hammond), the late first wife of Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison).  Actually, I feel the term can apply to most of the characters, save for Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford), the medium through which Elvira is conjured from beyond the grave.  So, yeah, already you can see how this is not going to be too Catholic of a production.  Standby to see if I can wring anything worthwhile out of it.

In the happy country home of author Charles Condomine, the only Blithe Spirit to be seen is himself as he and his current wife, Ruth Condomine (Constance Cummings), prepare for a small dinner party they are hosting.  Their guests are Dr. George Bradman (Hugh Wakefield) and his spouse, Violet Bradman (Joyce Carey).  Though she would not think of herself in this manner, their entertainment for the evening is Madame Arcati.  While Charles has invited the medium as research for his next book, Ruth is struggling to take anything their special invitee will do seriously.  The only thing that could potentially spoil the evening is the constantly bustling, nervous maid, Edith (Jacqueline Clarke).  After their Downton Abbey-esque (2010-2015) activities, they settle down for a séance.  As a Catholic, even if this is meant to be a comedy, I am uncomfortable with such scenes, but we will talk more about this later.  Madame Arcati does her thing, and to all appearances, nothing happens.  Yet, Charles begins hearing a voice from beyond.  He dismisses it at first, but its insistence has him asking the guests if they have heard anything, growing more impatient as he ushers Madame Arcati out the door.  When the Bradmans finally depart, Elvira appears to Charles in spectral form.  The problem is that only he can see her, not Ruth.  All his living wife can see is her husband gesticulating and talking to thin air.  The fact that he continues to contend that it is Elvira visiting him from the afterlife has Ruth thinking him mad and going to bed in a huff.  With Charles now alone with Elvira, he understandably has questions.  She is not straightforward with answers, but she is pleased to be there and anticipates being around for a while.  The next morning, Ruth is at breakfast before Charles, and finds her husband in a cheerier mood than she would have credited.  He has found the experience of the previous night invigorating and he is looking forward to getting to work.  Throughout the day, there are encounters with Charles in which Ruth observes him interacting with the invisible Elvira.  By the time evening comes around and they are about finished for the night, Ruth decides to have one more go at convincing Charles to put aside this craziness.  Instead, he convinces Elvira to pick up items and bring them to Ruth, showing the living spouse that the deceased one is, indeed, present.  Instead of calming the situation down, it makes it worse.  The next day, Ruth pays a visit to Madame Arcati, demanding that the so-called psychic perform some kind of trick to make Elvira go away.  After getting over the satisfaction of learning that her powers are, for lack of a better word, effective (this is my Catholic-ness speaking here, for good reason), Madame Arcati does some research and concludes that she has no idea how to send Elvira back to her rest.  Meanwhile, Elvira becomes stir crazy, having Charles drive her around to different places.  She wants more of this treatment, but Charles eventually reminds her that his duty is to his living wife.  Elvira’s continued antics convince Charles and Ruth that the ghost means ill for Charles, wanting to murder him so that Elvira and Charles can be together in eternity.  This idea frightens Ruth, and she determines to try once more for Madame Arcati’s intervention.  Unfortunately, Charles had been about to use the car, and Elvira had rigged it so that he would die in a car accident.  Instead, it is Ruth that meets her end, immediately coming back in a spirit form that only Elvira can hear and see.  Charles now sees little alternative but to go to Madame Arcati himself, and she agrees to come to his house to again attempt what she claimed before she could not, dispel a spirit, or, rather, spirits.  Charles and Madame Arcati go through several séances before Charles is ready to quit.  After several of them, Madame Arcati presses Charles as to who could have possibly summoned the spirits. Eventually, it is determined that it was not Charles, but rather their maid, the perpetually busy Edith.  She is brought into the living room where Madame Arcati puts the maid into a trance.  Through it, she is able to make Elvira and Ruth slowly fade from view.  Charles is pleased, but Madame Arcati feels something is still amiss, advising the two-time widower to leave the house on an extended trip.  Her fears prove correct as it is evident that, while not seen, Elvira and Ruth are still haunting him.  This is all the convincing he needs, and it seems like his deceased wives are happy to help him pack.  This is because they have arranged for him to join them in the afterlife, watching from a bridge as Charles’ car goes careening out of control.  The last shot is his apparition landing between Elvira and Ruth.

Not much of what happens in Blithe Spirit, including Charles’ death, made this Catholic film reviewer comfortable, despite the fact that it is supposed to be a comedy.  Never mind the fact that it deals with the occult, which is something with which no person should dabble.  As a Christian devoted to the sanctity of life, I did not want to see Ruth die first and foremost, and hoped that Charles would live in the end.  Then again, none of these characters treated one another with any kind of Christ-like understanding.  Ruth could have attempted some sympathy for her husband in seeing Elvira, even if it does look crazy.  Elvira seems bored, even resorting to admitting to affairs while she was alive.  It is her that is supposed to be the eponymous character.  Instead, I feel it should be Charles who is seen as the blithe one.  The spirit of his late spouse shows up and, while initially shocked, seems to take to it like it is the most natural turn of events.  I would reference the definition in the introduction to underscore why this is not Christian behavior.  This should all be obvious, too, but let us return to the topic of the occult.  Here, too, we can see how the title attitude is not helpful.  When people meddle in these matters, they do so with little understanding of the forces with which they are contending.  We can see this with Madame Arcati, who is supposed to be the “expert,” yet appears to fumble through everything she does.  Put differently, think about how tiny is our knowledge of God and the love He has for us.  Just today in Mass the priest quoted St. John Vianney, who said of the Mass that if you fully realized the importance and power of our weekly devotion, we would die of ecstatic love.  That is a wonderful prospect because such an end would likely mean Heaven straightaway.  When you think about it properly, there is no better outcome for our souls.  This is juxtaposed to what can happen with séances and the like.  This film is meant to be a comedy, yet there are plenty examples out there of the evil such practices can unleash.

It is strange to say this about such a movie because it is meant to be lighthearted, but Blithe Spirit needs to be taken seriously.  Too many treat non-Christian practices like what you see in this movie: with a cavalier attitude.  Once more, they are far too blithe.  God asks us for a different attitude towards Him, but I hope you agree with me in thinking you should not watch this one.